Week 7 Courtney Saeteurn

Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics, and the Materializing of Memory
Louisa Schein

In Louisa Schein's article "Diaspora Politics, Homeland Erotics, and the Materializing of Memory," the author talks about the Hmong people, their culture, and how their diasporic experiences shape their ideals on gender and sexuality. She explains that a homeland is more then a geographic space but it is a "product of discursive construction." With that she explains how the Hmong people have lost their lands from the Han Chinese and how they kept their system alive through secrete embroidery. She also talks about how the Hmong tend to romance the past, remembering it as better then it really was. She describes the visit of exiled Lao Royalty to the Fresno Hmong New Year. She tells how almost fetishized the women were here and in the Hmong community in general. She also talks about how there has been an increase in Hmong men marrying Miao Chinese women. She explains that a lot of Hmong men are afraid of the outspoken women and that is why they have turned to overseas women to marry.